Empire Conquest

Chapter 626 - 622: Fugitive Prime Minister

They waited until dawn before receiving the most comprehensive and detailed report.

It wasn’t that the communication personnel at the Navy headquarters were negligent, but the content of the telegram was simply too much, and the efficiency of the long-wave radio station’s transmissions was too low.

What was more crippling was that the telegram had undergone complex second-layer encryption.

Although Rofuss’s demise was no secret, the Newland Authority had not yet announced the news, and related matters still carried a high level of secrecy.

The key point was that much of the content in the telegram was provided by spies lurking within the Newland Federation.

If it were accidentally leaked, it would most assuredly threaten the personal safety of the espionage personnel.

In addition, the content was related to actions to follow.

This was precisely why the telegram was encrypted a second time, requiring a cipher lock controlled by Bai Zhizhan to decrypt.

While deciphering the telegram, Bai Zhizhan gained a more comprehensive understanding of the current situation.

The first point was that Chur had already fled to the Newland Federation; at the time of Rofuss’s stroke, he was in the Grey Palace, and he was with Rofuss.

Given the circumstances at the time, they must have been discussing matters related to the Bulan Kingdom.

According to the Sixth Bureau’s speculation, Chur would propose to Rofuss that the Newland Federation dispatch troops or at least send a fleet to protect the shipping routes to Bulan territory, and rely on the Newland Army deployed in Bulan, as well as parts of the Bulan Army still loyal to him, to engage the Consortium Army and regain control over the Bulan Kingdom.

But the key was not how many ground forces were committed.

In fact, the Newland Federation had never been short of ground troops.

The total strength of the Newland Army had surpassed 10 million, with as many as 6 million troops stationed domestically, most of whom had completed basic training. At least 200 divisions, or about 3.5 million Newland soldiers, had already received the necessary weapons and equipment.

The key lay at sea.

More precisely, it was about how to transport the Newland Army to the other side of the Sunset Ocean.

If the maritime shipping routes were unobstructed, there would actually be no need to use the domestic troops of Newland.

In the western regions of North Xuan, the Newland Army had 30 divisions, nearly 500,000 troops, and Rofuss had long decided to abandon North Xuan.

Because the sea routes were blocked, these troops had not been withdrawn.

Additionally, Snow Island held about 100,000 Newland soldiers.

Unfortunately, under the threat of the Liangxia Fleet, the Newland Navy had no way of transporting the troops to the Bulan Kingdom, so there was no possibility of supporting Chur’s counterattack.

Actually, Chur was not foolish and understood the current situation very clearly.

Not to mention other issues, the once invincible Bulan Royal Navy had already been shattered.

Before the coup erupted, Scapa Bay had been bombed multiple times, with the main battle ships of the Domestic Fleet anchored there becoming a major target.

To eliminate these maritime behemoths, the Tiaoman Air Force used radio-controlled bombs numerous times.

The result was that several main battle ships, including the "George V," were all severely damaged.

The "Ansen" and "Hao," which had been commissioned just last year, had been hit by bombs dropped by Tiaoman bombers and had long lost their combat capabilities.

Otherwise, the Bulan Royal Navy would not have been constantly holed up in the domestic ports.

In fact, the situation with the Newland Navy wasn’t much better.

Although under Rofuss’s personal intervention, the four "Nanda" class fast battleships were delivered several months ahead of schedule, and together with the two already in service "Beika" class, the Newland Navy had a total of six fast battleships. But what was even more critical was the aircraft carriers, up till now they only had one "Ethe" class, and five "Independent" class carriers. The numerous escort aircraft carriers contributed nothing to the battle for sea control.

A further issue was that the Newland Navy’s focus was on the East Ocean.

Of course, even if they were deployed, the Newland Navy didn’t have much of a chance of winning in a decisive battle with the Liangxia Fleet in the Sunset Ocean.

Don’t forget, the Liangxia Navy’s Sunset Ocean Fleet has 2 large carriers and 4 small carriers. Adding the Tiaoman Navy and the Raleigh Navy, the number of Fast Battleships is no less than 6. Once the Liangxia Navy completes its deployment adjustments, especially after the transfer of 2 "Xu Sea" class Fast Battleships to the Tiaoman Navy as promised, the Consortium Group will have as many as 8 Fast Battleships in the Sunset Ocean.

Here, I haven’t even included the Raleigh Navy’s "Empire" and the Tiaoman Navy’s "Prime Minister".

The construction of the former was delayed time and again and only got on the right track after the Raleigh Kingdom formally entered the war, and thus wasn’t completed within the planned timeline.

As for the latter, it would wait until the shipping routes were cleared and then be towed back to Tiaoman’s domestic waters for repairs.

If we count these two, the Consortium Group has 10 Fast Battleships.

Moreover, the Liangxia Navy’s East Ocean Fleet has 8 Fast Battleships, but in actuality, they won’t need more than 6.

In fact, even without Fast Battleships, the Liangxia Navy could still launch a strong attack on the Howay Islands.

Thus, the Liangxia Navy could dispatch additional Fast Battleships to the Sunset Ocean at any time.

Even if they were reluctant to part with the powerful "Nanzhu Sea" class, the Liangxia Navy would send 2 "North River" class to the Sunset Ocean when necessary.

The key point is, the Liangxia Empire has in principle agreed to gift these 2 Fast Battleships to the Ter Republic.

This happened after Bai Zhizhan led the fleet on an expedition, when the Imperial Authority agreed to construct a fleet for the Republic that could sufficiently protect its domestic security in response to the Republic’s demands. Part of the agreement was that after the war, 2 "North River" class would be gifted to the Ter Navy.

In return, the Ter Republic would open up all its military bases, except for those in Ankara and Istanbul, to the Liangxia Army.

This way, in the North Sunset Ocean, the Consortium Group will have between 8 to 12 Fast Battleships!

Even if the carriers were not taken into account, in a contest of Fast Battleships, the Alliance Group would still be at no advantage.

Of course, in Chur’s view, in the combat in the North Sunset Ocean, the importance of Fast Battleships is no less than that of carriers, and might even surpass them.

The key issue is the exceedingly poor weather conditions in the North Sunset Ocean.

Of course, Chur’s understanding is not wrong.

Don’t forget, during the last great war, he was the Minister of the Navy of the Bulan Kingdom and lead the strategic offensive against the Ter Empire in the direction of the Land Heart Sea. Although he was dismissed from his post after the disastrous defeat in the attempt to attack the Dardanelles Strait, he is definitely a navy expert.

This is also the most similar trait he shares with Rofuss.

Rofuss, during the same period, was the Assistant Minister of the Navy of the Newland Federation.

Chur couldn’t possibly be unaware that under the current circumstances, even if the Newland Navy gave it their all, they wouldn’t be able to help him return to the Bulan Kingdom.

To speak frankly, doing so would only worsen the situation.

As long as the Newland Navy focuses on the Sunset Ocean, they would undoubtedly lose the Howay Islands within a few months.

Then, with what will they stop the Liangxia Navy from attacking the Newland domestic territory?

An attack on the homeland means Newland Federation is not far from defeat.

Given the situation, Chur could only resort to the next best option.

In fact, this was key to his seeking out Rofuss.

To establish a government in exile.

However, that wasn’t as simple as renting an office in Huacheng or some other city and then issuing a statement.

Based on unconfirmed intelligence obtained by the Sixth Bureau, Chur had proposed to Rofuss to establish a temporary government in Toronto or another city in Maple Country.

In other words, he intended to gain actual control over Maple Country.

It was for this matter that a dispute arose between the two.

Following that, Rofuss suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

Although his secretary entered the study immediately after receiving the call, and contacted the special service personnel at once to have Rofuss sent to the nearest Navy hospital, it was all too late. To be precise, by the time the secretary entered the study, Rofuss had stopped breathing.